Noah, a big-budget Hollywood retelling of the Bible story starring Russell Crowe in the title role, is reportedly in trouble after religious groups shown an early cut found the film “troubling”.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, directorDarren Aronofskyis being asked by Paramount to make changes to his $125m epic, which is the Black Swan auteur's first film on this scale. In a bid to gain support from religious groups who may find the subject matter troubling, Paramount has recently held screenings for both Jewish and Christian audiences. Based on their feedback and the disputes the studio has had with Aronofsky, the studio has asked Aronofsky to make changes. The director has reportedly refused.

Noah will be Aronofsky’s first feature since the phenomenally successful and Oscar-winning Black Swan, which made a profit of more than $300m. It will also be just the second time that the New Yorker has made a film with the backing of a big studio, the first time being the puzzling The Fountain, which failed to make back half of its budget. A source close to the director has admitted that, “Darren is not made for studio films”.

One of the many difficulties that have beset the film relates to its extensive use of effects – another novelty for the director. Although a real ark was built, no real animals were used in the live shooting, instead the director opted for “tweaked” versions and an element of the fantastical.

There has already been controversy over the movie’s third act, where the film's story threatens to diverge from the biblical version of events. In October of 2012, a version of the script surfaced on the internet, which displeased one Christian reader so much that he described the director’s version of Noah as an “environmentalist wacko”.

Aronofsky himself has stated said he tried to appeal to both the religious and the secular viewer by being factually accurate and allegorically interesting. He said that he hoped that it “could connect to a modern audience” by “ring[ing] true to people who think it really happened and those who think it’s a story”.

It remains to be seen whether Aronofsky and the studio will be able to settle on a cut that is able to appease all interested parties but there remains hope. As Paramount Vice Chairman Rob Moore has admitted, the director “definitely wants some level of independence” but “he also wants a hit movie”.

The film stars Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins, Emma Watson, Douglas Booth and Logan Lerman. It will be released in the UK on March 28.